The NOHT-ÉSON Planning Table Structure
The Planning Table is the principal decision-making body for the NOHT-ÉSON. Each member of the NOHT-ÉSON partnership has one seat at the Planning Table. Issues may be raised by members of the Planning Table or brought as recommendations to the Planning Table by any of the several NOHT-ÉSON working groups.
Discussions are held at scheduled Planning Table meetings—usually every month—and decisions are made by consensus. Consensus-based decision-making is a defining feature of the NOHT-ÉSON’s Planning Table. Every member has a voice at the table and issues are rigourously and openly discussed until a decision is reached that is supported by the entire Planning Table. There is no voting. Decisions made at the Planning Table become the policy of the NOHT-ÉSON until they are superseded by subsequent decisions.
The Planning Table may, in the process of its decision-making, direct working groups to execute various tasks related to an issue under deliberation. Upon completion of the tasks, the working groups make recommendations to the Planning Table towards a decision. Decisions made at the Planning Table are measured against the Vision, Mission and Values of the organization, the mandate of the organization as given by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, and the health benefits generated for patients, clients, families, and caregivers in Niagara.
Stephen Szeplaki
Frank Ruberto
